Will Matthews score more than Ovechkin by the end of his career?

[2014nyr]

Absolutely not…he doesn’t have near the maniacal desire to score goals that ovi has. Talent wise i think he’s a much dangerous goalscorer than ovi is/was…he can score from more areas on the ice. This isn’t anything negative about him at all, it’s simply that to do it at the level ovi has for as long as he has…goals have to kind of be the primary focus of your game, and you have to have an otherworldly passion for scoring driving that focus.

Matthews has a very different game and mentality than ovi. I’m not saying one is better or worse, only that i don’t think matthews has the obsessive mindset with goalscoring it takes to have a chance at that record. Could be proven completely wrong on this tho, and would be awesome to see another run at that record if so.

 

[filinski77]

I understand yours is just a response to someone else, so I’m only putting this back out there.

Completely different trajectory if Ovechkin plays the lost 2004-2005 season. Who knows how long the NHL would allow scoring to decline as it had through 2003-2004? Ovechkin certainly wouldn’t be coming into a league where PP’s were juiced through the roof during his first two years.

I’m also a firm believer that the late start to the 2012-2013 season allowed him to recover from a horrible 2011-2012. I’m not so sure his goal totals change that much in an alternate reality where the offseason proceeded as normal. It also doesn’t seem like a coincidence that he had his best first half in 2021-2022 about a dozen years after having to play only 70 games in 18 months due to COVID affecting play in 2019-2020 and 2020-2021.

That’s why we just have to go with how reality unfolded.

The guy is going to own the record with well over 900 goals, play 21 seasons and 1550+ games as is, so it’s probably one of the most favorable simulations out there.

There were two work stoppages/shortened seasons during Gretzky's career and he also had 46 goals in the WHA if we want to nitpick but why bother? Ovechkin deserves this and it's good for the game,

I agree

I'm just saying - if we are going to play "what if" games to bring Hull's numbers closer to Ovi, it's only fair to use that exact same logic to "what if" fror Ovi and show that the separation still exists.

 

[pld459666]

Ovechkin is 3rd in hits since they started tracking them in the 2007-08 season.

Still 3rd.

 

[rickthegoon]

No, Matthews will not score more goals than Ovi.
As a matter of fact, Matthews will never do anything better than Ovechkin

 

[TheDoldrums]

No, Matthews will not score more goals than Ovi.
As a matter of fact, Matthews will never do anything better than Ovechkin

He’s already broken his career high gooner

 

[CactusCap]

Absolutely not…he doesn’t have near the maniacal desire to score goals that ovi has. Talent wise i think he’s a much dangerous goalscorer than ovi is/was…he can score from more areas on the ice. This isn’t anything negative about him at all, it’s simply that to do it at the level ovi has for as long as he has…goals have to kind of be the primary focus of your game, and you have to have an otherworldly passion for scoring driving that focus.

Matthews has a very different game and mentality than ovi. I’m not saying one is better or worse, only that i don’t think matthews has the obsessive mindset with goalscoring it takes to have a chance at that record. Could be proven completely wrong on this tho, and would be awesome to see another run at that record if so.

I wonder what it would be like to play for a player who actively chooses not to score more goals when he could if he really wanted to. Considering you have precious few minutes on the ice what else would you want your teammates to do than try their best to score goals?

 

[Patrik26]

Question should have been, will Matthews win as many Cups as Ovechkin? I think not.

 

[SkinsFan09]

Absolutely not…he doesn’t have near the maniacal desire to score goals that ovi has. Talent wise i think he’s a much dangerous goalscorer than ovi is/was…he can score from more areas on the ice. This isn’t anything negative about him at all, it’s simply that to do it at the level ovi has for as long as he has…goals have to kind of be the primary focus of your game, and you have to have an otherworldly passion for scoring driving that focus.

Matthews has a very different game and mentality than ovi. I’m not saying one is better or worse, only that i don’t think matthews has the obsessive mindset with goalscoring it takes to have a chance at that record. Could be proven completely wrong on this tho, and would be awesome to see another run at that record if so.

Where can Matthews score that Ovechkin cannot, exactly? Or is this going to be another incorrect "all of his goals come from the PP one timer" nonsense argument?

 

[AvroArrow]

Matthews' wrist appears to be made out of paper maché. He's one good slash away from being a full time nostril model

He's had lingering wrist issues since the covid season, it was near the end of the season but he got him from behind way after the play in a game vs Calgary and went crashing into the boards. He missed some games and had to eventually get surgery on his wrist that year.

Still pissed about it.

 

[Golden_Jet]

Why is it so wrong to point out that it’s absolutely pointless to wonder how many games and goals he might have?

lol what, that’s literally what the forums are for , to discuss hockey.

 

[Bladerunner]

Highly unlikely. Only chance, and an outside one, is if the NHL tinkers with the rules to increase scoring to greater levels than at present. Is Matthews as durable as Ovi?

 

[zenator]

I'll say no, because Ovechkin has freakish longevity to still be this good at his age.

Matthews will get worn down like most players. He's already had a couple seasons of fighting injuries. Plus he isn't a fast skater, so when he loses a step in his 30s, he will become slow.

 

[TheDawnOfANewTage]

I'll say no, because Ovechkin has freakish longevity to still be this good at his age.

Matthews will get worn down like most players. He's already had a couple seasons of fighting injuries. Plus he isn't a fast skater, so when he loses a step in his 30s, he will become slow.

Worth noting- he had his most serious injury this year, his 45th or whatever of playing NHL hockey, in suffering a friggin broken leg. He still scored approximately so many goals.

 

[The Shadow]

Not likely but I would love to see it

Marner leaving this summer is likely and that won’t help his stats. Who is going to feed him great passes?

 

[Martin Skoula]

I'll say no, because Ovechkin has freakish longevity to still be this good at his age.

Matthews will get worn down like most players. He's already had a couple seasons of fighting injuries. Plus he isn't a fast skater, so when he loses a step in his 30s, he will become slow.

He can slow down to Tavares level and still be a menace within 10 feet of the net

Dont get me wrong it would hurt him as a 2 way C overall but purely goalscoring I could probably count the amount of goals he scored by being faster than someone on two hands.

 

[BallardEra]

497 goals is a lot of track to make up.

 

[Tuggy]

No.

 

[Montreal Shadow]

Considering 39-year-old Ovie is currently schooling him, gonna go with no.

 

[Unbiased Fan]

By 20 years time humans could be replacing limbs with prosthetics like cyber punk allowing them to jump 50 feet in air and run 100+ MPH and If that’s the case then sure he can match his longevity and beat his record.

 

[rielledup]

Just for fun.. if AM averages 50 for the next 3 years and then 40 between 30-33 and 30 between 33-36 he'd have 757.

 

[Herregud]

497 goals is a lot of track to make up.

Just needs to score 40ish a pop until his 39-year old season. Easy enough.

Joking aside, if Matthews can get to a point with his body where he just... isn't missing 10-20 games half of his seasons, it gets interesting. It ends up closer than a lot of people think, but also further than the rest think. I also don't think he makes it to 39, so he'll have to sprinkle some 50s in there. Dude's as dynamic a goal-scorer as there has ever been.

 

[Ghost of Murph]

Getting the all-time goals record is not going to happen for Matthews. Assuming Ovi finishes out his current contract he will conservatively have 930 goals. I just don't see Matthews having the same longevity as Ovi in terms of producing at a high level in his late 30s. Ovi is a physical freak with elite goal scoring skill. Matthews is just an elite goal scorer, which means he will hit the wall before sniffing Ovi's record.

 

[ORRFForever]

No.

 

[Rafafouille]

Both players have played 60 games

One is 39, looks like your average dad playing beer league

The other is 27, in the prime of his career

One is 3rd in the league in goals, the other is 34th


The guy who looks like he should be doing TV ads for "Touch of gray" instead of playing NHL hockey is the one who's ahead so no, it's not happening for Matthews.

 

[Son of Nogatco]

Not likely but I would love to see it

Marner leaving this summer is likely and that won’t help his stats. Who is going to feed him great passes?

Ryan Reaves and Scott Laughton?